Their Eyes Were Watching God Chapters 9-12

 In chapter 9, the story begins with Jody’s funeral. Although inside Janie is happy and relieved, she must put on a sad face for the public. Janie burns her head rags and starts wearing her hair in a long braid again. Men begin to approach Janie due to how beautiful she is, but she has no desire to rekindle with anybody. AS SHE SHOULD!!!! But eventually, Janie starts to wear white after six months to signal that she is ready to start a relationship again. “Ah ain’t grievin’ so why do Ah hafta mourn?... De world picked out black and white for mournin’, Joe didn’t. Ao Ah wasn’t wearin’ it for him. Ah was wearin’ it for de rest of y’all” (Hurston 113). Phoeby and the townspeople think that Janie is not sad that Jody died. Janie replies that she doesn't care what the town will think because she shouldn't pretend to be sad if she really isn't. Next there is a basketball game that Hezikiah and the townspeople attended. Janie decides to close the shop early, but a mysterious man comes in. The mystery man buys cigarettes and flirts with Janie. He invites Janie to play checkers and they have a fun and flirtatious time. Janie FINALLY asks him his name and he responds as Vergible Woods, but people call him Tea Cake for short.  They continue to laugh, and Tea Cake walks her home and tells her good night. UGH SO CUTE. Tea Cake doesn’t come back for a week, and Janie starts to think that he is taking advantage of her. She decides to be rude to him when he shows up. But when he finally comes by, he jokes with her by pretending to play an imaginary guitar which makes Janie smile. They flirt and play checkers again, and Tea Cake walks Janie home. They sit on her porch and talk for hours, eating cake, and drinking fresh lemonade. It was late at night and Tea Cake proposed that they go fishing. They stay up for the rest of the night. Next, Janie falls asleep in Tea Cake’s lap and wakes up to find him brushing her hair. OH EM GEEEEE! Tea Cake tells Janie that he likes her, but Janie tells him that she likes him as a friend. YIKES! Janie doesn’t believe him when he says that he likes her because she thinks that he can't possibly be attracted to someone so much older than him. She tells him that he will feel different in the morning, and Tea Cake leaves. The next day, Tea Cake and Janie become the topic of scandalous gossip. OOOOOOO.  Pheoby warns that Tea Cake may be using her for her money and tells Janie that she has stopped mourning for Jody way too soon. Janie then reveals that she plans to sell the store, leave town, and marry Tea Cake. UH OH! She explains that she doesn’t want the town to compare Tea Cake to Jody. Pheoby cautions her once more to be careful with Tea Cake, but then the two women laugh and share in Janie’s profound happiness.